Passion part 2 by Fantasy Weaver

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Note

1: Some slightly adult content ahead.

Passion

Part two

The bell chimed as Sebastian opened the door to the familiar sight of Jasper’s barbershop. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply. The aroma of aftershave and cut hair always helped him relax after long days in his studio. He let his eyelids part to the sight of Jasper cutting a man’s dark blonde hair. The barber had automatically thrown a look over his shoulder to see who was coming in the shop, and smiled when he saw who it was.

"Hi Sebastian, you’ll have to wait for a bit."

The younger man nodded as he spied the waiting seats. There were four men waiting for their turn in the chair. It was a busy day.

He seated himself in the waiting chairs and gave a greeting to Kent who had also seen him come in. As he waited, he chatted with the other men.

It was still funny when he thought about it; how shy, how anxious he had been the first time he had set foot in here. Now he was no more scared of this than he was of the dark -something he enjoyed more than full sunlight. He had changed, that was for sure (due in part to the fact that he had worked a year as Jasper and Kent’s clean-up boy). But, there was always that hidden part of himself, a remain of the teenager he had once been, that still felt a bit shy every time he would meet someone new, or when Jasper would show affection to him in public.

Soon enough, every one of the men waiting had been taken care of, and Jasper was beckoning him to the chair. He laughed at this; the barber never changed. Even after all this time, if Sebastian was in the shop, he would always have to sit in the barber chair and get dealt with.

"So, what are we doing today?" Jasper asked him in his best casual tone.

He thought for a moment. "I was thinking about getting rid of these split ends" he joked, knowing full well what the pale man’s answer to that would be.

"I don’t run a salon here" Jasper emphasized in an amused voice.

They laughed together. It was their unsaid rule that if Sebastian was in the barbershop, it was either most of his hair on the floor, or…

"Just a shave then" the raven suggested.

"That’s more like it."

The barber would admit though that he liked the long haired look on his lover, and when it was just the two of them at home, he would happily trim the raven locks until the ends were soft as velvet. Other times, when they were in the right mood, they would get their heads clipped together, razored to smooth perfection. Sometimes, it would be different shorter styles, like an ivy; it all depended on what they felt like.

Or like today, they would stick to something as calming as a hot towel shave. Sebastian especially enjoyed those lazy Saturday nights, when they would be soaking in the bath, and Jasper would gently lather his face up and slide the straight razor oh so smoothly up the column of his throat.

The thoughts were already making him numb and relaxed in Jasper’s throne of worship. The barber took the liberty of throwing the white cape around his neck loosely, until his strong hands came to tuck the material into his collar. The chair was then tilted back, a towel was placed around his neck and he was ready for his shave.

The younger man barely registered Kent chatting up the client in his own chair not but a few feet from him. He had to remind himself to behave while he was there. He chuckled at the thought.

"What’s so funny?" Jasper asked him in a curious tone.

"I’ll tell you later" he replied, a smile still planted firmly in place.

The barber came to him with oil on his hands, and he immediately began rubbing the substance into his lover’s face. He had a days’ worth of growth; nothing his razor couldn’t handle. He was more concerned with the tiredness in the man’s face. Despite the fact that he was happy for now, that didn’t mean there wasn’t something troubling him. ‘Probably that project again’ the platinum haired man thought.

When he was finished massaging the pre-shave oil into the skin, Jasper went to prepare a hot towel. When it was ready, it was deposited on Sebastian’s face and pressed firmly into place. The heat permeated the raven’s skin, and he felt himself relax completely into the cushiony material of the chair beneath him.

While he was under the towel, Sebastian let his mind wander back to the problem at hand. He still had no idea what to plan for his final piece. He had spent hours that day trying to come up with something, but all his efforts were in vain. His mind had drawn up a blank.

This artist’s block would be the end of him if it continued. There was nothing he could do to remedy it either. It would go away on its own eventually, but the man wished it would leave him now. How would he explain this to his teachers, who had been hoping to see him make another one of his, as they put it, "darkly alluring pieces."

He told himself he would think more about it later, as Jasper had come to remove the cloth from his face. Sebastian kept his eyes closed, and felt the brush making circles on his face. A warm lather was being formed. The sensation was heavenly.

The barber made his head turn this way and that to have complete access to every part of his face. Then Jasper moved away to get his straight razor.

The man’s pale hand gently pushed his lover’s face to one side, then that same hand stretched the skin. His other hand, the one wielding the blade, slid it across the outstretched expanse of skin. Despite all their time spent together, Sebastian still couldn’t help but shiver at the feel of the steel blade running across his cheek. As it came upon his neck, and mindful of Kent being only a few feet away, he silently exhaled:

"Oh God…"

"You called?" Jasper said in the most pompous manner.

There was silence after that.

Something clicked after hearing this. And Sebastian’s mind began to work over-time.

The other morning, waking up next to Jasper, his divine hands in his hair. The way the man glowed in the sunlight. The way he thought he was a present from heaven. When Jasper told him about how his fetish started, saying he worshiped hair now. The way he thought about the chair beneath him as a throne of worship. The way getting lathered was heavenly, the way the blade ran up his throat was like paradise. Jasper responding to the name "God"…

He remembered Nicolas’ words from today. When he would do something that represented himself, he would get excited.

It was like a light bulb had flicked on in his head.

He knew what to do for his masterpiece.

XXXXX

Sweat beaded their skin, slicking their movements.

There were sounds. Craven sounds, naughty sounds.

Words were spoken. Oaths were given. Pleads and prayers were whispered.

Hands clawing at the white sheets. Larger hands on the other’s body.

Breaths, hard and shallow were taken. Panting.

Pleasure.

Joining. Coupling.

Euphoria.

Stillness for a moment. Lips crashing together.

Passion.

XXXXX

The thing that woke Sebastian up that morning was a sharp slap on his behind.

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty" was the sarcastic comment that came afterwards.

Sebastian grumbled a curse into the pillow his face was currently mashed into, but he got up nonetheless.

After having taken a shower and having put on some clothes, the raven headed to the kitchen to see Jasper already eating breakfast. He sat down across from him silently, cracking his back as he did so.

After a moment, the barber smirked. "You were certainly into it last night. Why’s that? These days you’re so stressed out you can barely make it to bed without falling to the floor first."

Sebastian considered his next words carefully. His eureka moment from yesterday had been the catalyst for the intense night Jasper and him had enjoyed. He was so energized he could barely sit still. First though, he had to answer Jasper without telling him too much of what he had planned.

"I finally have an idea for my masterpiece" was all he said. There was an edge to his voice that informed the barber that this was all the younger man was going to reveal. For now anyways.

"Well, now I know what needs to be done for you to leave bruises on me" Jasper smirked, the licentious tint to his baritone voice only hinting at how much he enjoyed himself.

The younger of the two scoffed before replying in a sarcastic manner, "I can leave as many bruises as you want. Do you want them to be visible?"

The two men smirked.

XXXXX

Sebastian was glad knowing he had kept all of his history of art notes from college and from university. They would come in handy now.

He needed a contemporary approach to something centuries old. And he already had a few ideas of how to do that. Still, he needed a base idea to work from.

His hand flipped through his pages of notes, old works he had written on the subject and volumes he had gotten from the library. In a notebook, he wrote down important bits of information.

Figures of the divine, directional lines, color schemes, symbolism…all these things and more were poured over and written down with the utmost care. Sebastian’s stormy eyes were alight with concentration and creativity. The things he could do with this material. He needed a way to integrate the audience, to have them in the same state as what the canvases would depict.

What if he were to add something more than just paintings? He could add drawings, sketches-

He could potentially make the whole process of creation a work of art.

He would need approval though, and a ton of concept sketches and written explanations. He might need Scarlet’s help, maybe even Nicolas’.

There was also the fact that he was going to do something he never thought he would be doing; EVER.

XXXXX

The clock on the wall was checked for the hundredth time. How long were they going to keep him waiting?

Sebastian had, like many other art students, taken an appointment with the two teachers in charge of the showing. It was them he needed to impress. Still, if they didn’t like his idea, he was prepared to fight for it and defend its good points with all his might. That’s what they had always taught them to do after all.

Still, he was nervous. He had to talk to them about something he had always kept to himself. What would be their reaction to this?

But then, this wouldn’t be the worst part. He would actually have to show his piece in front of hundreds of people. They would get a first class view of what goes on in his mind. The thought was alarming and for a second, the raven thought of calling the whole idea off.

But he had not worked hard for nothing, and his parents hadn’t raised a coward. He would go through with this, even if it killed him. At this point, he couldn’t care less what people thought of him. There was only one person who counted.

The door to the bureau opened, and one of the students from his classes came out. Right after, the head of one of Sebastian’s teacher’s, Helen, popped out the door to see him.

"You can come in now, Sebastian."

"Thank you" he replied nervously.

For privacy’s sake, he closed the door to the office behind him as he entered. The young man then sat himself across from the other teacher, John. The guy was probably in his late forties with a shock of salt and pepper hair on his head and beady eyes. Helen was a bit younger, her chestnut curls having only the slightest hint of grey in them. Laugh lines contoured her mouth and she had tiny crow’s feet on the corner of her eyes.

"So, what have you got?" John started, not one for small talk. He had always been blunt in his manner of teaching.

Sebastian cleared his throat. This would be a very awkward talk. "Listen, what I have as an idea might sound ridiculous, but what I’m proposing and what I’m about to say are very serious."

Helen raised a brow. "Alright."

"We’re listening" the other teacher replied.

"Okay" he took a breath. "I want to do a presentation which represents a side of me no one other than myself has ever seen. I’m not talking about a self-fiction in precise terms, but something that resembles that. What I mean is…" he stopped, trying to look for the right words. No, he needed to start from the very beginning. "Can I ask you something?"

The two teachers regarded him in askance. "Yes" they both replied.

"Would you mind keeping what I’m about to say to yourselves?"

They seemed confused by such a statement. None of the students had ever asked something so personal before. "Why?" Helen asked.

Sebastian swallowed down excess saliva. "I’m going to tell you something that I’ve never really told anyone about. Only three people know what I’m about to say."

"What does this have to do with your project?" John asked, the impatience in his voice informing Sebastian that he was losing his temper.

"It has everything to do with it. But I don’t want anyone to know about it just yet; except you two of course." They said nothing, so he continued. "The idea I have in mind involves me making my…fetish…into a work of art."

This got both teachers’ attention immediately. They didn’t give any sign of what they were thinking away, but Sebastian had a feeling they were already reeling at the idea.

"Don’t take this the wrong way, please" he pleaded. "I came up with what I think is a pretty good concept, and I need your approval."

"First of all" John interrupted, obviously not interested quite yet. "What is this ‘fetish’ of yours?"

Sebastian loosened his collar. Awkward could not begin to describe how he was feeling right now. "Hair" he mumbled under his breath.

"Speak up."

"Hair" he said clearly, looking at both occupants of the small room dead in the eyes. "I have a fetish for hair."

Helen, being the less brutal person, cleared her throat and tried giving an encouraging smile. "Like, playing with hair, brushing, things like that?" she asked uncertainly.

Sebastian shrugged. "Well yes, but other things too" he saw that she wanted him to go on. "Um, hair cutting, shaving, you know…"

"Is that so? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of something like that" Helen remarked. "I’ve heard of people with BDSM fetishes, or even foot fetishes, but this one is new to me-"

"In any case," John interrupted again, seeming uninterested in the subject at hand. "What was your idea?"

"Right," Sebastian focused. "I wanted to give the audience a view of what it’s like for me to live with this."

He had both his teachers’ undivided attention. "Go on."

XXXXX

After what seemed like an hour of talking, explaining, showing sketches, seeking approval and heated arguing every now and then, the time for the verdict had finally come. Sebastian was so nervous he thought the room was shaking with him.

"Well," Helen was the first to speak, "I think the idea is wonderful and rich in research and experience. I am a bit concerned when it comes to the time to prepare it however."

"Trust me, I’ve been dying to start it. Once I start, I won’t be able to stop" Sebastian promised with the most serious expression he could pull. God did he ever want to start it; so much that his hands were wringing themselves.

John cleared his throat and crossed his arms. He looked pensive for a while, as if turning the idea over in his head and trying to find weak spots.

"Are you sure you’ll be able to get your hands on all those different materials?"

"Yes, absolutely."

"I still think this is quite drastic."

Helen slapped him on the arm lightly. "Come on, this could be fun. Besides, we wouldn’t be here today without pieces like "Fontaine" by Duchamp, or "Impression Soleil Levant" by Monet. What can a fetish do to the art world?"

The older man considered her words and sighed in defeat. "You better get to work then-"

"Thank you!" Sebastian shot up from his seat, shook both their hands and hurriedly left the office.

Both Helen and John were too stunned to do anything but stare after him as he left.

XXXXX

Three months. He had three months to get everything ready. Sebastian could already picture the unending days, and nights, in the very studio he stood in at that very moment. There was so much to do, but with his idea already firmly in place, he planned out a schedule.

The first thing that needed to be done was to get Jasper’s approval. He might have to beat around the bush a bit, but he was sure things would work out. Then the pictures needed to be taken. The paintings came afterward; there would be four big ones and a huge one. Then the drawings needed to be done and selected. He would need to order the materials necessary in advance and buy some wood and paint. He would need donations, samples really. Assembling would be long, but the performance would need to be on point and almost even unplanned…

So much work, so much to do! He needed a budget list, a list of things he needed to buy among other things. He was so giddy with excitement he couldn’t stop thinking.

This would work.

With fast fingers, he dialed Scarlet’s number on his phone.

"Hello?"

"Scarlet, it’s Sebastian."

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